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Hopehappens's avatar

“One assumes the Democrats don’t mind the job creation, either?”

So we start off the day with a snide swipe at Democrats?

Per Simon Rosenberg:

“Since 1989 and the end of theCold War, the US has seen 51 million new jobs created. 49 million of those 51 million jobs - 96% - have been created under Democratic Presidents. Just 2 million jobs - 4% - have been created under Republicans. “

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Dave Yell's avatar

Yeah I did notice that too.

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Ray Oyler's avatar

I didn't take that comment as a swipe at Democrats.

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Hopehappens's avatar

Maybe I was being hypersensitive (it wouldn’t be the first time!) but given the general chatter and polling that shows people think Trump would be better on the economy, it hit a nerve.

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Mary's avatar

I didn’t like it either. Why not say, “Of course, Democrats favor job creation too.” Or “Obviously, …”

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SandyG's avatar

Here's how I read it: An implication that jobs are not important to Dems which is ridiculous. I'll grant that jobs are not what's important to the Far Left, but they are a minority of electeds and registered voters. Most Dems care about jobs, so if that's his implication, it's false, at the very least misleading. Isn't the Bulwark not supposed to be doing that in their writing?

Of course, they're a noisy minority which is why right-wing media focuses on THE Left that is purportedly ruining the country. How does he not know the difference between center-Left liberals like me and many other Bulwark subscribers and the Progressive Left?

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Ray Oyler's avatar

I understand. It's something I try to guard against myself.

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Richard Kane's avatar

We've also gotten used to Bill's daily swipe at Biden and the Dems.

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David Court's avatar

"Used to", maybe, but still unappreciative of. Somehow, I don't remember Charlie using his Morning Shots for that kind of personal Cheap Shot....

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Hopehappens's avatar

Yes indeed.

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James F.'s avatar

Don't know if it really qualifies as a "snide swipe". Also, I like Simon, but those "job creation" numbers are sort of misleading. Of course jobs are going to be created after a president inherits an economy with lots of unemployment caused by a pandemic (2020) or a massive recession (2008). Both of those situations were horribly mismanaged by the prior GOP presidents, which made the situation worse, but still, some of that unemployment was unavoidable. Job creation numbers play into this "the President is omnipresent and responsible for everything" view that too many voters have.

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knowltok's avatar

You aren't wrong, but I think the Dems need to shift from, "Let me talk about economic nuance first." to "Republicans are bad for the economy, here's the proof. Now if you want to dive into the weeds, we can."

Those voters you mention aren't going to magically get educated any time soon. So communicate with them using simple facts and follow ups. Don't hide from the nuance, but don't lead with it either.

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Robert Jaffee's avatar

You answered your own question. Republicans always leave this nation worse off; and democrats are always left to clean up the mess.

All major economic expansions occurred under democratic administrations. The Great Depression and Recession both occurred under republicans.

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knowltok's avatar

Yeah, that be a good one-two punch. "51M to 2M. Now let me tell you have that happens. Let's take the Republican Great Recession of 2008..."

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Hopehappens's avatar

I agree with you that the view of the omnipresent president is not helpful. But I think these job numbers do point to Democratic economic policies being better for the economy and workers. The general assumption that somehow the Republicans are better on the economy than Democrats bothers me more than the prevalence of the view that the President is omnipresent.

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Kathy Balles's avatar

Yes, it’s unfortunate that “the people” (say that in JVL’s Bane voice) think the president has the omnipotent power to create jobs, etc. Truly, the more unfortunate thing is that the President has A LOT of power in foreign policy however, and Trump would be an absolute effing disaster there, and people hardly think about THAT at all!

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James F.'s avatar

Oh, don't get me wrong - I agree that Democratic policies have been/are better for the economy. I just think the raw "so and so created this many jobs" statistic is kind of pointless statistic to tout.

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Robert Jaffee's avatar

Unfortunately, this is the only way to present an “apples to apples” comparison of an individual’s presidency.

Yes, individual statistics, as can Individual facts, be misleading, if other facts and statistics aren’t being considered, or deliberately omitted.

Yet, this is just one of the many quantitative factors being considered to measure economic performance between two administrations.

No one is using job growth as an indicator of an entire economic situation, or presidency.

That said, as a wise man once said, “there are lies, damn lies, and statistics”….:)

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Jennifer's avatar

The voters have shown they get their Economics education from Facebook. So, to push a narrative that Biden created this many jobs is totally within the rules of the game.

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Color Me Skeptical's avatar

Here is a link to Simon’s latest Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonwdc/p/biden-gains-3-and-takes-lead-in-fox?r=2y1hd&utm_medium=ios

If you scroll down you will the graph that Hopehappens is referencing.

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Hopehappens's avatar

It’s from a daily email from Simon Rosenberg. He has a Substack blog called Hopium Chronicles. It’s all there.

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